Peter Schmuck grades the Orioles (Week 8)

Hannah Foslien / Getty Images

The pitching crisis continues. Orioles starters struggled all week and -- for the first time this year -- they were largely performing without a net. The combination of great relief and timely hitting that has gotten the starters over the rough spots all year was not so much in evidence, and that was clearly reflected in the results. Jason Hammel (pictured) continues to search for the command that made him so successful (when healthy) last year. Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez languished on the disabled list. And Freddy Garcia has yet to get into the win column. Chris Tillman is the de facto ace of the staff at the moment, but a big performance Tuesday night went for naught and the O's went on to lose all five games for the week. Grade: D

The pitching crisis continues. Orioles starters struggled all week and -- for the first time this year -- they were largely performing without a net. The combination of great relief and timely hitting that has gotten the starters over the rough spots all year was not so much in evidence, and that was clearly reflected in the results. Jason Hammel (pictured) continues to search for the command that made him so successful (when healthy) last year. Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez languished on the disabled list. And Freddy Garcia has yet to get into the win column. Chris Tillman is the de facto ace of the staff at the moment, but a big performance Tuesday night went for naught and the O's went on to lose all five games for the week. Grade: D (Hannah Foslien / Getty Images)

The usual procedure here is to total up all the appearances by the bullpen and calculate the combined ERA to get a sense for how well the relievers have been doing, but that's not really going to tell you any more than the club's overall record for the week or Jim Johnson's unusual run of bad fortune. The bullpen has acted as a stabilizer for this team since the start of last season, so it was probably due for a bad week. Just not this bad. Grade: D

The usual procedure here is to total up all the appearances by the bullpen and calculate the combined ERA to get a sense for how well the relievers have been doing, but that's not really going to tell you any more than the club's overall record for the week or Jim Johnson's unusual run of bad fortune. The bullpen has acted as a stabilizer for this team since the start of last season, so it was probably due for a bad week. Just not this bad. Grade: D (Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports)